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Unified Communications

8 Free Collaboration Tools for K-12 Classrooms

These apps and online resources allow students to work together and offer an easy way for teachers to provide real-time feedback on assignments.

January 6, 2015 Chrissy Winske 1 Comment

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Google Apps for Education

The Google Apps for Education suite is pretty common in K-12 classrooms now, but I would be remiss if I didn’t include it in this list. Students regularly use the applications embedded in Drive like Docs, Calendar and Sites to work together and share information with their teachers and peers. To begin using these collaboration tools, all you need is a gmail address. The apps for education suite is available for free to registered K-12 schools.

More about Google Apps for Education

Classkick

Classkick is an iPad app that allows students to receive instant feedback on their assignments. Teachers first create a digital assignment via Classkick and can then use the app to view their students iPad screens in real-time, allowing for quick feedback and intervention as they work. Students can also make a private request for help from their teacher and can even assist a classmate in need.

More about Classkick

Edmodo

Edmodo is similar to a learning management system. It’s a social learning platform that allows teachers to post and collect assignments, create discussion boards and interact with students outside the physical walls of the classroom. The Edmodo app is available for iOS, Android and Windows.

More about Edmodo

Schoology

Schoology is a digital ecosystem that allows students and teachers to remain connected during the school day and beyond. It’s a place where teachers can post discussion questions for students, manage grades, distribute and collect digital assignments and promote collaboration between students.

More about Schoology

Cacoo

Cacoo is a web-based diagram creation tool that allows multiple students to work together on the same graphic. It’s a great tool to create collaborative notes or projects.

More about Cacoo

RealTime Board

Educators and students can receive a free RealTime Board account with an .edu email address. RealTime board is a virtual whiteboard that allows you to collaborate on, share and manage projects and notes in real-time. You can upload documents and photos, make annotations and export the finished product to refer back to or upload elsewhere.

More about RealTime Board

Wikispaces

Wikispaces is a social writing platform for education. It’s an online workspace where students can collaborate on writing assignments and group projects. Teachers can store course content and share information. They also have access to analytics tools that measure student engagement and contributions to the Wikispace social community.

More about Wikispaces

Padlet

Padlet is an online bulletin board that allows users to post text, pictures and video. Teachers can use Padlet to create a board that centers on a specific concept. They can also post open ended questions and receive feedback from students. Pictured here is a Padlet board that focuses on “The Odyssey.”

More about Padlet

Teachers need easy ways to facilitate collaboration inside and outside of their classrooms. Whether they’re looking to get students together for a brainstorming session or a creative project, trying to enable real-time feedback on assignments or just simply sharing course materials, it makes sense to give educators the tools they need to manage their classrooms. There are now a host of options for collaboration out there. Many support the use of tablets in the classroom and are available for download as an app. Others are solely web-based and can be used anywhere and from any device.

Fortunately, there are a lot of free tools available to K-12 schools. Most of which have the option of being deployed at the classroom level or school-wide depending upon your need. This roundup focuses on tools that are free to sign up for. If you do choose to deploy a solution district-wide, you will probably have to pay a fee, but everything on this list is free for a teacher to register for and begin using today.

Take a look at these eight free collaboration tools and let us know what you think. Have you used any of these in your classroom? Is there anything we should add to the list?

Tagged With: Collaboration, K12

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Prasanta Shee says

    March 29, 2017 at 5:16 am

    Kindly add other online collaboration tools like on premise R-HUB web conferencing servers in the above list. It provides 6 real time collaboration applications in one box.

    Reply

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